Sherdog.com’s 2012 Event of the Year

The anticipation for
UFC on Fox 5 began in August, when the promotion announced
three big-ticket bouts would go down at the Key Arena in Seattle on
Dec. 8.

After the first two UFC on Fox events got the newly-minted
partnership between Zuffa and Fox off to a promising start, ratings
dropped significantly for the Las Vegas-based organization’s next
two offerings on the network. A variety of factors received blame
for the decline --
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White even
claimed that “The Avengers” movie premiere stole some of the
audience for the UFC on Fox 3 in May -- but one thing was clear:
the UFC needed to make every effort to deliver exciting, relevant
bouts with recognizable names for its final appearance on Fox in
2012.

“I have not been this excited for a fight in a long time. I really
haven’t,” White said at the pre-fight press conference. “This is
gonna be a good one. This is the baddest fight ever on free
television.”

White did not give the event enough credit. UFC on Fox 5 turned out
to be the baddest fight -- or collection of fights -- in 2012,
period. In an era in which the proliferation of events and injuries
makes it increasingly difficult to produce a quality fight card
from top to bottom, UFC on Fox 5 delivered on all fronts.

The event effectively served as a springboard for three relatively
new stars -- Henderson, Gustafsson and MacDonald -- while building
intrigue and storylines for 2013 at the same time. In addition, the
preliminary bouts were thoroughly enjoyable, starting with Scott
Jorgensen’s buzzer-beating submission of John Albert
all the way to Yves Edwards’
perfectly placed right hook counter that sent Jeremy
Stephens crashing to the canvas.

Moreover, the show drew the UFC’s biggest audience on Fox since its
second event in January, peaking at 5.7 million viewers during the
Henderson-Diaz headliner and averaging 4.4 million viewers
throughout the main card broadcast.

While the middleweight title rematch between Anderson
Silva and Chael Sonnen
at UFC 148 might have been the year’s single biggest fight, the
shindig in Seattle was its all-around best. For its combination of
violence, star power and significance, UFC on Fox 5 is
Sherdog.com’s “Event of the Year” for 2012.

If mixed martial arts events were entities capable of emotion, UFC
on Fox 5 would have begun the weekend with a hippo-sized chip on
its shoulder. Despite gushing with excitement in his opening
statement at the pre-fight presser, White managed to upstage the
very same card he called “the baddest fight ever on free
television” within a half-hour timeframe. By introducing Ronda
Rousey as the inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion at
that same news conference and subsequently announcing that “Rowdy”
would headline UFC
157, White shifted the focus from a potential “Fight of the
Year” candidate between Henderson and Diaz to proceedings more than
three months away.

When all was said and done, however, Henderson made sure the
spotlight was focused squarely on him. After eking out two narrow
decision victories against Frankie
Edgar at UFC 144 and UFC 150 earlier in the year, the former
World Extreme Cagefighting ruler had his share of doubters
heading into his title defense against Diaz, who had scored
increasingly impressive victories over Takanori
Gomi, Donald
Cerrone and Jim Miller
since his return to 155 pounds in 2011.

For five dominant rounds, “Smooth” authored the type of victory
that placed him firmly atop a deep and talented lightweight
division. He punished Diaz with leg kicks and punches and
controlled the tempo with tie-ups and takedowns; when his opponent
attempted to turn the tide with leg locks, Henderson was calmly
able to escape from danger. In short, it may have very well been
the most complete performance of the MMA Lab product’s career to
date.

That, coupled with the intrigue surrounding Henderson’s alleged
sleight-of-toothpick skills, made him the breakout star of the
card.

“I think it was more of a case, stylistically, the last couple
fights were a little bit closer, but when you only have two or
three skirmishes per round, it’s hard to have a really decisive
fight,” Henderson said in attempting to explain the differences
between fighting Edgar and Diaz. “We all fight to end fights, but
sometimes that’s not the case. Sometimes when you have an opponent
that walks forward and you walk forward, you get better stylistic
matchups, and that was the case tonight. We matched up pretty well,
and it went my way.”

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Gustafsson is a breakout star.

With another challenger vanquished, talk turned to
a potential meeting with former Strikeforce lightweight champion
Gilbert
Melendez, and Henderson did not shy away from the
speculation.

“I want to fight the best guys on the planet at 155,” he said.
“Line them up. I’m not going nowhere.”

Henderson was not the only fighter to make strides at UFC on Fox 5.
Anointed by many as the last great challenge on the 205-pound
horizon for reigning champion Jon Jones,
Gustafsson continued to make steady progress toward that meeting
with a unanimous verdict over Rua. Gustafsson blended striking and
takedowns effectively throughout the contest, gradually wearing
down “Shogun” over the course of three rounds. Outside of a heel
hook attempt from Rua in round one, the fight belonged to the
talented Swede.

While it is not entirely clear what 2013 holds for “The Mauler,”
the light heavyweight contender already has designs on going after
the belt currently possessed by Jones.

“All I can say is, I’m a ready for a title shot -- whoever has the
belt,” Gustafsson said. “When I get a chance to fight for the
title, I’ll be more than ready for it.”

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Not everyone enjoyed MacDonald’s actions.

Perhaps the most polarizing personality to emerge from the card was
MacDonald, who earned a pair of 30-26 scorecards in a one-sided
thrashing of the renowned Penn. The
Tristar Gym representative drew the ire of those in attendance
by utilizing his own version of the Muhammad Ali shuffle against
the reeling Hawaiian.

At the post-fight press conference, MacDonald claimed it was a
technique intended to help him relax, not a means of taunting a
battered opponent. Trainer Firas Zahabi would later support his
fighter’s claim.

“I can’t believe people perceived it that way,” Zahabi told the
Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “It makes no sense to me
because the shuffle is a technique. It’s a way to draw your
opponent’s attention. Rory did the technique three or four times,
and he followed it up with a superman punch. It’s exactly what we
drilled. He was trained to do that. He was not just doing it to
showboat. He was doing it to execute a strike.”

Despite Zahabi’s claims, MacDonald -- perhaps unwittingly --
appears to be well on his way to being one of the sport’s top heels
in 2013.

There were plenty of other memorable moments from UFC on Fox 5.
Jorgensen earned a pair of post-fight bonuses for his first-round
submission of Albert, while Edwards captured “Knockout of the
Night” honors for his work against Stephens. Additionally, “The
Ultimate Fighter 15” alumnus Daron
Cruickshank wowed onlookers with a spectacular head-kick
knockout of Henry
Martinez; Dennis Siver
established himself as a force to be reckoned with at featherweight
with a blowout win over Nam Phan; and
Raphael
Assuncao out-dueled Mike Easton
in a matchup of bantamweight contenders.

Perhaps the only person who felt cheated was lightweight Tim Means, who
suffered a sauna mishap just one day before he was set to face
promotional debutante Abel
Trujillo on the undercard. Trujillo instead earned a
second-round technical knockout over Marcus
LeVesseur.

Even Means would have to admit the night was pretty darn
entertaining. Past and present stars, relevant storylines,
high-quality violence and solid ratings meant that UFC on Fox 5 had
a little something for everyone. Future UFC on Fox broadcasts have
a tough act to follow.